THE future is looking bright for Melksham’s town centre, with most shop units occupied.
According to a local commercial property experts, the town centre is on course to reach maximum capacity, with the majority of retail units in the town centre that are currently vacant, now ‘under offer’.
“There are positive signs ahead for Melksham’s economy,” said the commercial director at Kavanaghs, Henry King, speaking to Melksham News. “There are plenty of people out there that are looking for premises. Good businesses are looking to expand, and there are still lots of people looking to start up a new business. All are very positive about the future – they believe that the economy is returning.
“People say that ‘the high street is dead’ – but it’s not, it’s just different. There are always people, and there continues to be people, that want to start up business, or expand, or take up another property.”
However, Henry King has explained that residents wanting clothes and shoe shops in the town might be disappointed. “Essentially over the years, market towns like Melksham have become more service orientated – the cliché is takeaways, charity shops, estate agents, hairdressers and barbers etc.
“This has been caused by internet shopping, and the impact of Covid has meant that even more shopping is done online – town centre shops may be able to claw some of this back, but this is an ongoing trend.
“A lot of the businesses that we talk to at Kavanaghs are food related, but that’s not all of them – there are a range of businesses, some are existing, some new. But essentially the town centre is opening up, and there is more opportunity for people to spend their money in the town – and because there are new businesses coming to the town, there will be greater variety.”
